PITTSBURGH, Pa. (AP) - Madison Bumgarner pitched a four-hitter with 10 strikeouts and Brandon Crawford hit the first grand slam by a shortstop in postseason history as the San Francisco Giants routed the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-0 on Wednesday night in the National League wild-card game.
"That's crazy," Crawford said. "With all the great shortstops that have played before, that's pretty special. I'm happy to be able to do it."
After silencing a black-clad crowd hoping for another Pittsburgh playoff run, San Francisco will face NL East champion Washington Nationals in the best-of-five Division Series beginning Friday.
This one fizzled by the middle innings - one night after Kansas City edged Oakland in a thrilling start to baseball's postseason.
Crawford's shot over the right-field wall in the fourth inning off Edinson Volquez put the Giants ahead. Bumgarner did the rest as San Francisco won its eighth consecutive postseason game and seventh in a row when facing elimination.
Overpowering one of the NL's best lineups, Bumgarner walked one and threw 79 of 109 pitches for strikes in his latest stellar October performance. The big left-hander, who allowed only four singles, has thrown 15 scoreless innings in two World Series starts.
"It's fun," Bumgarner said. "If you're not playing, you can be excited and nervous and all that. But if you're pitching in the game, you've got to try to push that all aside and try to make pitches like we did tonight."
Brandon Belt drove in three runs for the Giants.
Read more: http://www.wjla.com/articles/2014/10/slam-shutout-lift-sf-giants-to-nl-wildcard-win-will-face-nats-in-nlds-friday-107706.html#ixzz3F13K2QeZ
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